Concert Review: Giraffage ignites the grooves at U Hall

Giraffage had its sold out crowd at U Street Music Hall sweating to its knees on Jan. 28 as his extensive beats took hold of every ear drum and dancing nerve on the floor.

What the venue experienced was a sacred unspoken moment between headliner Giraffage and his creations and between his music and the audience. The crowd was brewed to its bones by openers Dirty Chocolate and Spazzkid. When Charlie Yin, who goes by the stage name Giraffage, hit the stage, the entire crowd pushed and jumped in anticipation for the set that was about to test just how much they thought they knew the northern California native.

Giraffage kicked off with the popular single, “Close to Me,” off 2013’s “Needs” album and transitioned smoothly to his remix of Mapei’s “Don’t Wait.”

Giraffage blended a wide variety of styles and genres, incorporating everything from Miley Cyrus to k-pop infused “QT” and the classic 1998 techno anthem “Better off Alone” by Alice Deejay. His visuals included pugs on yellow swings, karate kicking nuns and an array of colors that made for a visually and sonically stimulating show.

Halfway through his set, Giraffage stopped to ask the crowd how they were doing. No one had any words to respond, as everyone was too busy grooving to the beats to remember that just average people crowded the basement of a U Street locale.

Towards the end of his set, Giraffage played “Be With You” off his latest release, “No Reason,” mashed with R. Kelly’s “Ignition,” and the entire building went insane. Just when it seemed his playlist could not get any more diverse, he brought out old school R&B grooves whose lyrics almost everyone was yelling at the top of their lungs.

When Giraffage exited the stage, the crowd demanded an encore — a request he quickly obliged. What happened next was likely the most intense workout anyone in the crowd had experienced in weeks. The crowd partied like it was 1999 as Darude’s “Sandstorm” closed the night on a sweaty, nostalgic note.